Bamabassistan

[WTL]

Last weekend, I was able to squeeze in one last grand fishing trip, this time to the tribal region of north east Alabama. While there, I was able to meet with his most revered personage, shiek John Seaver, and I was truly in debt to his and especially his wife’s hospitality.

The pictures mostly speak for themselves, including the relatively few bass. A cold front had passed through 2 days prior, and the skies were still deep blue and the wind was a huge problem.

The first location was lake Guntersville, out of the Langston boat ramp. The wind started up as I was putting in, rolling straight up the lake and turning it into a fury of rolling, white capping waves. I, with only my 10’ kayak, fished anyway. The trick was simple, I slogged over the mats of milfoil which kept the waves in check. As long as I stayed on the mat, there was nothing to worry about.

I only manage 1 small dink, on a senko. Also ran into a school of bream that I fiddled around with a while. Threw spinnnerbaits, flukes, senkos and a frog. The frog still got lots of hits, but they must have been dinks…nothing big enough to get a hookset on.














The 2nd place I fished was that evening, town creek in the actual creek. Same story, pretty, some very large and impressive stretches of rapids. Only a few bream on a hopper pattern with the fly rod. Did find 1 half of a torn up kayak paddle, which I will turn in to a single handed paddle.





That night, I crashed in the truck. Got some nice sleep, the temp was nice and cool. The next morning I fished in the Little River Canyon, which is the deepest canyon in the US east of the Mississippi river. The fishing again was lousy, although right before leaving I found the fish would hit a white with crystal flash wooly bugger fly. But on the whole, I caught 2 redeye bass, and several good bream and that’s it. One of the redeyes is in the back, I am gonna let him live in the aquarium.

















Then, after hiking out, I drove to sheik seaver’s compound, which is strategically placed on the high ground. Got there a little late, but we saw the Bama-UT game, and I was fed a hell of a roast.

The next morning, we attempted to fish that which is known as the dead sea, a large body of water, reputed to be sterile. There was no current, and the water was glassy, like a desert.

After a whole half day, we had manage a few bass. I tried watermelonseed senkos, crankbaits, jerkbaits and found that the cranks were the most effective.

Finally, late in the day and due to my great skill, I caught a bass which was at least not small.









All in all, it was a great weekend. Thankyou John and Lisa for your great hospitality. Roll Tide, defeat the infidel barners…

(I was listening to a lecture on sharia law while writing this post)

[bassboogieman]

Sounds like a fun weekend, nice pictures especially the "fall colors" that I didn't really know showed so well in Alabama. Seem to be missing the picture of John napping on the seat of his boat that's such a regular occurance that I guess it wasn't required, seen it once, you've seen it, well, you know. Now about the hat......................

[WatterBoy]

Those are some great pics, Billy. Enjoyed reading your trip report. Sorry the fish didn't cooperate.

[joedog]

Great Pics!
Nice fish!
Good story!

And at least you got to see LISA!

Thanks for the share!

[lilmule]

Nice all around trip,fish ,company and the great outdoors
5 weight?
Wooley booger tied on an elongated hook orange body,flouresent yellow hackle will work on most fish,think they take it as a stonefly emerger.Works on warm species or trout.

[WTL]

4 wt, tried a rust wooly bugger, they ran from it. White was what they wanted.

[bamabassman]

lol, great story billy. we are sooo hapy oyu came over bro love. i had a great time. and i am so glad oyu got the oly "keeper". although the folks may not believe me, i DID get 2 dinks. crankbait like bro love said. and the ROAST he talked about was a smoked pork shoulder. bro love destroyed it, hahaha. made me feel real good that he liked it so much. he ate 3 sammaches on a hogey bun! big ones too. lol. made lisa happy to see him eating too cuz ol bro love is getting a lil thin she said. lol.

the pics are fantastic as usual. the colors are really starting to come out now. i hope this front that is coming this weekend doesn't mess it up.

ow, question for all ya'll. what kind of bass is bily holding up and how much did it weigh? trivia for ya'll. hahaha!!

looking forward to the next time bro love.

AND ROOOOLLLLL TIDE ROLL!!!!

[bassboogieman]

Kentucky bass about 2.25 lbs. He's holding it out towards the camera (like your buddy Roland) so it may be closer to 2 pounds.

[aikenyounggun]

We call em spotted bass (aka Kentucky) but I was thinkin two pounds.

Awesome picture and story, glad you got to catch some fish

[keithdog]

Really enjoyed your post Billy. Loved the pictures and the story too. How many times did your here the word "TIDE"? That looks like such a beautiful area. I have to get down there sometime in the fall. I don't know if an Irish fan can get into and out of Alabama durring football season though without getting tarred and feathered. On that bass, I'd say a 2 pound spotted bass. One thing is for sure, if you get to visit John and Lisa, you arn't going to go home hungry!

[WTL]

I think it was about 2 lbs, but its a coosa spotted bass, not a northern imo.

I held the fish out like that as a joke, but I kinda like how you can see the bass real good. People have gotten smart about looking at the hands, but I might start holding fish out for purely compositional reasons.

[bassboogieman]

I don't have any issues around holding out a fish for a pic, after all it is the MAIN object of the photo (unless you're wearing a really cool hat). It does open you up the to Roland comparision though, but it usually in fun.

I've only caught one Kentucky bass that I was sure of, never a Coosa - are they the same?

Those that catch a good fish often take the picture with the bass on a Golden Rule, scale, or with another object like a rod for size reference - it's always difficult to judge a fish without a known reference. Guys all have different sized hands, heads, torso, you get the idea (or do I need to mention a couple others?). But a good fish is a good fish, and if that's a Coosa, from what I've heard, that IS a GOOD fish.

[bamabassman]

just a side note...that fish is CHUNKY....the reason...feeding on shad. jsut look at the belly on that thang. it was so full i don't what in the world made it think it could hold another peice of food. lol.

[bassboogieman]

Originally Posted by bamabassman

just a side note...that fish is CHUNKY....the reason...feeding on shad. jsut look at the belly on that thang. it was so full i don't what in the world made it think it could hold another peice of food. lol.

Really? I've seen you in the presence of Bar-B-Que and OFTEN wondered the SAME THING!

[bamabassman]

lol, then oyu should have seen billy DESTROY that pork shoulder we had that saturday night. lol. yes i was HAPPY to see him like it so much.

[WTL]

Originally Posted by bassboogieman

I don't have any issues around holding out a fish for a pic, after all it is the MAIN object of the photo (unless you're wearing a really cool hat). It does open you up the to Roland comparision though, but it usually in fun.

Sure, I told John before I held the fish that I was gonna do the roland thing for you guys to poke fun at.

But had I wanted to really be a roland, I woulda declared it a 4 or a 5 lber.

BTW, my great skill that led to catching it? Letting the crankbait sit on the surface of the water while I pulled a loop of line off the reel. He hit it on the top, I saw the boil and started reeling. Haha.


Oh, and the picture of the small bass in my hand with the blue cheeks is a redeye bass.

[bamabassman]

bruce, look REAL close at the pic. see the blue along the mouth? billy pointed that out to me. awesum. really pretty in my opion. never really noticed that on these bass. i will look closer from now on.

[bassboogieman]

No, can't quite make out any blue on the jaw, but it was the jaw that tipped me - it's not as wide as a largemouth and the jaw hinge appears to be not as deep as on a largemouth. And of course, knowing you (devil), since you asked what it was - obviously it was't THE OBVIOUS. And WTL, if you wanna be a lawyer - you gotta dial back on the honesty........................... Kiddin', but that was funny about the lure just sitting on top. I've done similiar, caught a striper once, because the hooks on the trap I was throwing hung on the line, I was reeling it back fast on the surface to make another cast, sure you've done the same, it's clattering and throwing water all over the place, and a nice striper exploded on it. Rather have luck than skill, any day.

[bamabassman]

the blue is right under the eye bruce. thereis another lil streak oyu can't see very well. but the big one may look silver to you. it is blue when seen in person.

amd i was there when it hit. billy was pulling out some line, wound it up when he saw the crank was gone....it was funny man. had ot be there. lol!

[WTL]

This is the redeye, it has the blue under the eye. Dont see as much on a coosa, but the bars are similar.

[WTL]

I also saw this redeye posted on another board a while back, with these stream bass, it seems as if there are often resident populations with color variances. This being the most extreme I've seen.